Helping out

• The "Rainbow" Warrior football team. Forty-five players and several coaches volunteered, proving sports is a common ground.

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"Ferd" Lewis wrote another excellent article on the challenges the athletic department faces in trying to upgrade and maintain facilities.

The athletic director deserves empathy for the difficult task of answering much-needed requests with financial resources of bread, water and a smile.

While the AD has a plan to help the program, it would have helped if he received a full status report when he was offered the job. The AD was told about the accumulated deficit; not sure if he was told about the lack of workable lightbulbs and duct-taped facilities.

Perhaps that's the lesson with the hiring of the next UH president, regent or coach. Each candidate should be given a full tour, then allowed to check under the hood and kick the tires. What's more, they should be able to sit down with employees and students and just ask: What are the problems here? Attending a show is wonderful. The post-event cleanup is not.